


When Adrien Had Enough

by Goji_Berry



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-01-23 18:25:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12513548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goji_Berry/pseuds/Goji_Berry
Summary: Adrien's world gets turned upside down one fateful day after early dismissal from school. Now, his only hope in living a normal life and protecting the ones he loves depends on a making a tough decision.





	1. Uh oh!

 

      There was one day in Adrien’s life that he would never forget. A day he hated more than the day his mother disappeared. October 17th 2017\. It was the day he found out who he was living with. He didn’t want to believe it, but he was there, right under his nose. The answer, the person, the villain Hawkmoth… his dear ole dad!

He wanted to throw up, he wanted to get away, he wanted to SCREAM! He also wanted to break down and cry. That’s what he did; he broke down and cried. 

What would his friends say, what would they call him? Hawkmoth Jr.? The moth-kid? What would he do when Ladybug found out? She’d hate him, she already pushes him away for someone else. Someone she’s always gushing over. She’d swear he was a part of Hawkmoths evil plot and he just fought with her so she’d feel comfortable with him before he stole her Miraculous; he was screwed!

It was purely by accident that he found out, it was early dismissal from college because of an unscheduled faculty meeting. It was a nice day so he chose to walk home for once after he parted from Nino, Alya, and Marinette.

Gosh this was terrible. Just when he made real friends and Marinette stopped stuttering around him so much. He’s going to lose all the ground he gained.

When he walked into the Mansion, it was complete silence. So, he went to get something to eat. Instead of sitting at the table to eat, ha ate some and took the rest of his food to his room. On the way to his room, he heard some talking in his father’s study. The voice sounded like his father and he sounded very angry, so he stopped outside the door and listened. 

“Nathalie, this is so frustrating! Nooroo, I need stronger akuma to defeat Ladybug and Chat Noir!”

“But master, I’m doing the best that I can, the miraculous was meant to create champions, not villains.”

“I’m your master, Nooroo! I demand ultimate power!”

“Sir, maybe your kwami needs a more firm persuasion?”

Adrien clutched at his chest as if he was stabbed through his heart. He quickly and quietly made his way back to which he came and went out the service entrance.

He ran as far as his legs would take him. When the tears stop flowing, he found himself in a park so he sat on a bench. He watched the kids play, watched as families laughed, he watched as teens played with their pets and knew that he would never have that.

“Kid… I’m so sorry.” Plagg’s face looked just as sad as his.

“D-Did you know, Plagg? Did you know that Nathalie was… _(Adrien held his stomach)_ … and that my father was Hawkm …”

Adrien couldn’t even bring the name to his lips before he hurled what little he had just eaten.

“I wish I did, kid… we could have ended him and that woman a long time ago”

 

Adrien stayed out as long as he could before he had to return to the mansion. He arrived through the door just in time for Nathalie to give him a look and frown that spoke volumes. He stopped her from giving him a lecture by saying…

“Sorry Nathalie, I stayed after school to help tutor a student and I lost track of time.”

“Fine, but in the future, please let me know of your whereabouts just in case your father needs you for something.”

 _(Yeah… needs me for my miraculous!)_ Adrien thought to himself.

“Dually noted, thank you… Nathalie.” Adrien called over his shoulder as he hurried to his room.

“Plagg, Nathalie is just as corrupt as my dad! she knows he’s hawkmoth!”

“I’m actually speechless, kid… but then again, I always thought there was something odd about her.”

“What am I going to do Plagg? I’m only 16 and I’m not ready to be on my own yet. If I call the police on him… on them, they’ll be arrested and tried as terrorist’s and they would try me as an adult because they would think I was their accomplice!”

“Kid, that’s stupid… they would see that you were on photoshoots, in school, and at home when the Akuma’s struck.”

“They could also say that I was just keeping up appearances to cover up my involvement just like them!”

“Uuuuuh… You do have a valid point there” Plagg pondered for a moment. “Why don’t you just; I don’t know, take his Miraculous without him knowing about it?”

“Plagg, what sense does that even make? I never take the ring off, I’m sure ladybug doesn’t take the earrings off, that would only conclude that dear old Hawk dad, doesn’t take his off either!”

“Okay, then… I got nothing!” Plagg shrugged his shoulders and took refuge under Adrien’s blanket. “Wake me up if you think of a plan.”

Adrien knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep at all that night. He was so scared that he locked his bedroom door and windows. He was so paranoid that his father and Nathalie knew he was Chat Noir that he was sure a black butterfly was going to infect him while he slept. Every creak he heard had him jumping out of his skin. He had to go find ladybug. It was 8:50 and he knew she’d be patrolling around 9.

“Plagg, claws out!”

Ladybug was surprised that Chat was at the Eiffel tower on his day off for patrolling. She also didn’t like how he was curling in on himself and trying to school his features after wiping his eyes.

“Okay Chat… I give; what’s wrong?”

“W-what makes you th-think somethings wrong, LB?”

“Well that for one, you only call me LB when somethings wrong, should I kick his ass?”

 Chat laughed at that.

” I can’t get much by you, can I?”

“So, who’s got my kitty all tied up in a ball of yarn?”

“Me actually… I’m not exactly able to go home right now…” Chat put his head down. “would you mind if I laid my head on your lap for a while? I’m so tired and if I could just take a quick nap, just for 30 minutes, I’d feel better.”

Ladybug looked at him warily, not sure if he was being completely honest. But when she heard him sniffle and wipe a tear off his thigh that he tried to hide, she got angry. Something was going on in his life that he didn’t want her to know about.

“Of course, Chat… I’m here for you as long as you need me.”

“Thank you, My lady.” Chat gave a small smile, laid down and put his head in her lap. She stroked his hair and scratched his scalp every so often. He was sniffling even more between choked sobs and it broke her heart. She rubbed his shoulders soothingly until he calmed down and fell asleep.

It was 2a.m. when a boom sounded in the distance, waking up Ladybug. When she saw a figure hovering above a house, she gritted her teeth… an akuma!

She shook Chat lightly, sorry that she had to wake him, but duty calls.

“Chat, wake up, we have an akuma to defeat!”

Chat woke up feeling rested after sleeping for how long?

“My lady, what time is it?”

“It’s after 2, kitty”

“Bug! Why did you let me sleep so long? Thank you by the way… but you should have been home in bed”

“Because you needed rest and I just woke up too; besides, it wouldn’t have mattered since the akuma showed up anyway”

The two heroes stood up and nodded to each other. Ladybug zipped away on her yo-yo and Chat pulled out his baton. Chat was cursing his father the whole time he vaulted toward the akuma. Suddenly his transformation gave out and he landed on a roof a quarter of a mile away from the akuma.

“Plagg, what the hell!”

“Kid, you fell asleep for FIVE hours! I need food to recharge” Plagg whined.

Adrien pulled the cheese canister out of his pocket and gave Plagg an extra-large piece.

“You good now?” Adrien watched as Plagg inhaled the last bit.

“Don’t do that to me again, kid… I know the secret identity thing is important to her an all, but it’s not fair to me.”

“I get it Plagg, claws out!” he yelled after hearing that all too familiar scream of ‘Lucky Charm!’

When Chat made it to the fight, he arrived just in time to see his lady being thrown into a brick chimney.

The sound of bones cracking made him cringe. Just when the akuma tried to grab her earrings, Chat jumped between them and wacked the villain away like a baseball pro. Chat dodged the liquid that he sprayed from the flower that was on his hat. Whatever the liquid hit, it melted. He looked over at Ladybug who wasn’t moving and that’s when he noticed her bare shoulder, her leg that was obviously broken, and there was a burn on her suit.

 “DAM IT!” Chat roared and swipe the flower that was on the clown’s hat. The flower that squirted a fowl acid like liquid that burned. He wacked the clown in the jaw with his baton and knocked him out. Chat took Ladybugs yo-yo, stepped on the fake flower and broke it. As the butterfly flew out he snatched it up and purified it. “Miraculous cure!” Chat yelled and watched as everything was returned to normal. Her suit… repaired. Her weirdly broken leg… repaired. The city… repaired.

But Ladybug didn’t wake up…

He sat on the roof and pulled her to his chest, crying. His father did this to him, to her!

Her last beep sounded and her suit gave away to reveal his classmate. Chat just stared in aw as the tears ran down his face.

“She’ll be okay, Chat… she’ll just have a bump on her head”

Chat looked up at the cute red bug.

“Are you sure she’s going to be okay… kwami?”

“It’s Tikki; yeah, she’s going to be fine, I’m _am_ good luck you know.” Tikki smiled.

 Chat frowned.

“If your good luck, why isn’t Marinette waking up? Why didn’t the cure fix all of her?”

“Because YOU made the call and you’re the black cat of destruction; she has the earrings and she was supposed to call for the Miraculous ladybugs; you called Miraculous cure instead” Tikki explain.

“Well excuse me if my partner wasn’t capable at the moment to yell those politically correct words!”

“Chat, I’m aware of that! That’s why I fixed everything I could under the circumstances”

“Look, I’m sorry… if you’re anything like my kwami, I’m sure you need to eat something. Can you go and find something? All I have is camembert.”

“If you open her purse I can get a cookie.”

“I wish Plagg ate cookies” he murmured as he opened the girls purse. Tikki flew inside and ate while Chat watched over his friend. Stroking her hair out of her face. Kissing her forehead and apologizing for not getting to the battle on time. He really hated his father right now. He also loved the fact that the whole ordeal helped him to find out who his lady was.

Tikki flew out when she was done eating.

“Tikki can you transform her? I don’t want her to feel like she couldn’t keep her identity a secret”

“You want it to be our little secret then?” Tikki questioned

“Yes please… I know it means a lot to her.”

“Okay, Chat Noir” Tikki said with a smile.

“Tikki, before you do it, can you answer one question for me?”

“I guess so”

“Who’s the guy that my lady like’s?”

“I’m not sure I should tell you that” Tikki frowned.

“It will be our secret, I won’t mention it to anyone, not even to her” Chat pleaded.

“I’ll murder you myself If you tell her!”

“I pinky swear, this cats’ lips are sealed!”

“She’s in love with Adrien Agreste” Tikki revealed then transformed the girl into Ladybug.

“Me? she’s in love with me!” He hugged the girl tightly and she started to groan.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to squeeze so hard, are you okay?”

“Chat? What happened; where were you, did we defeat the akuma?”

“My transformation fell away before I could get to the fight. My kwami had to recharge and I made it just in time to defeat the villain but not in time to prevent him from hurting you.”

“I guess that’s why my head hurts?”

“Yeah, you hit your head pretty hard.”

“Why am I still transformed? I should have run out of time!”

“Not sure, my kwami kept me transformed for extended periods before, too”

Chat was hoping she would just drop it, he wasn’t used to lying to her and he know ladybug hates liars.

“I guess that’s possible” she stood up with Chat’s help. “I guess we should go home and get some sleep?”

“I guess a couple of hours before school wouldn’t hurt” Chat cringed internally at the thought of going home. “Are you going to be okay getting home? You hit your head pretty hard.”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine” Ladybug winced when she touched the sore spot on her head.

Chat gave her a hug when she pulled out her yoyo. “Please be careful, I don’t know what I’ll do without you”

Ladybug ruffled his hair and kissed him on his cheek, then zipped away.

 

Chat made it home just in time for his alarm clock to buzz. He de-transformed, unlocked the door and hopped into his bed, knowing Nathalie would come knocking on the door soon.

With three knocks and the turn of a nob, Nathalie walked in the bedroom and opened the curtains.

“Time to get up Adrien”

“Oookaay…” Adrien faked a yawn and wiped his eyes, making sure they looked half sleepy since they were kinda sleepy anyway. He stretched and dragged himself out of his bed, making sure he was spot on in his performance and slowly walked into his bathroom where Plagg hid.

“Please don’t be late for breakfast with your father, he has something he wants to discuss with you.”

Adrien froze.

Uh oh!...


	2. Play along

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien needed a cover after lying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry readers, I realized after writing this chapter that it would end in three chapters instead on two... Darn it!

 

“Father? I’m surprised, you’re normally not here for breakfast.”  Adrien tried to speak nonchalantly but inside he was terrified at what his father wanted to discuss.

“Well…” Gabriel took a sip of his coffee as he looked over the brim of the cup at his son before putting the cup down. “It has come to my attention that you didn’t come home until late yesterday”

“Father I…” Adrien started but was quickly cut off.

“You also missed your piano lesson and had your bodyguard looking for you everywhere!”

Adrien put his head down.

“You do realize that’s completely unacceptable and you’re putting me in a position to have you homeschooled again just to keep an eye on you!”

“I’m sorry father, I mentioned to Nathalie that I was helping to tutor a student who was falling behind in math and I lost track of time.” He lied.

“This student couldn’t get help from the teacher or someone else?”

“She… she has…”

“She has what? Adrien… spit it out!”

Adrien hoped Marinette would forgive him and most of all play along with his lie. His job at protecting Paris was at stake and so was trying to take down his father. It was now or never.

“Marinette, she has a problem with numbers; she has dyslexia like mom did” Adrien said softly. “I was trying to help her like we helped mom… before she left. She didn’t want anyone to know about it because she didn’t want people to treat her differently… I told her that I wouldn’t tell anybody because mom felt the same way.”

Adrien pretended to wipe his eyes and then he blew his nose on his napkin. He was fortunate that he did have some snot in his nose, so it just made his act look that more believable.

“Oh, I see… the girl who designed the derby hat?” Gabriel questioned.

“Yes father… Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“So how is that she made a hat when it requires numbers and measurements?”

“She only has problems with complex numbers in formulas, she said when she looks at the problems the numbers move on the paper and turn backwards.”

“Call her!” Gabriel demanded with a stern stare.

“Wh- what?” Adrien stuttered.

“I said, call… her!” Gabriel sat back and crossed his arms.

“But father, she’ll be mad that I told you!” Adrien interjected.

“If my son is breaking my rules to help his classmate, then a little embarrassment is warranted!”

Adrien cringed, he didn’t think that far ahead.

“Yes, father” Adrien pulled out his phone and called Marinette. He only just got her number two days prior to finding out that she was Ladybug.

The phone started to ring and Gabriel took it from him. It rang a couple more times and then…

“A-Adrien?” and excited squeal was so evident that Gabriel had to pull the phone away from his ear and put her on speakerphone.

“No Miss Dupain-Cheng, it’s Adrien’s father, Gabriel Agreste.”

The squeal was even louder and Adrien wanted to laugh but he was currently dying inside.

“Mr. Agreste, it’s an honor to speak to you, your designs are such an inspiration to me, I follow everything you do and…”

“That’s nice Miss Dupain, but I have a few questions to ask you about you and my son”

 _“Oh no here it comes, the noose”_ Adrien thought to himself.

“Me?... and Adrien?” An infatuated sigh was heard and both Agreste looked at each other.

“Uh, yeah… what did you want to ask, it’s not like were dating or anything although it would be nice and did I just say that out loud? I’m not on a speaker, am I? is Adrien there? He’s not listening to this is he? I would be sooo embarrassed if he was, he so nice and handsome, but you already know that because he’s your son, I’m rambling aren’t I, I’m going to stop now, what did you want to ask me again?”

After Gabriel ran his hand down his face and motioned for Adrien to sit down he began his interrogation.

“Miss Dupain, it has come to my attention that Adrien has been helping you with your problem.”

“My… problem?” She questioned. She didn’t know what the heck he was talking about, but she did realize something was wrong because Gabriel himself was speaking to her and not Adrien. Adrien must have gotten himself in trouble and he needed a cover so he gave him a story about him and her. She just needed to figure out what the story was. He was almost homeschooled when she took the Miraculous book and gave it to Master Fu, it’s the least she could do for him.

“I understand how difficult it is for you to talk about it”

“I guess he told you then?” Marinette said solemnly. “You can tell him that I understand his position and I’m not mad that he told you” Marinette bit her lip, trying to desperately figure out where the conversation was going.

“So, when did you figure out you had that problem? It must have been a challenge with helping out at your parent’s bakery.”

“Well, I never knew I even had a problem because my mom and dad had their own way about doing stuff and I just followed along” ( ** _What are we even talking about!)_ ** Marinette facepalmed.

“What about now? Surely they’re able to keep helping you?”

“Well, it’s only so much they can help me with because the Bakery is getting busier and they’re too tired”

By now, Marinette is banging her head on her desk and Adrien wants to vomit.

“Can you describe the name of the method that got you this far?”

“The method’s name?” Marinette started to panic and Adrien was about to pass out.

“My parents never gave me that information, they said if they named it then I would attach a label to my problem and I’d never overcome it.”

“You have some wise parent’s dear, how about coming to the mansion when you need math tutoring from my son from now on because I don’t approve of him staying out late at the school without his bodyguard.”

**_(Oh my gosh, this was about him tutoring me with math?!)_ **

“Really Mr. Agreste? I know he’s busy and I don’t want to make a fuss”

“Nonsense, I find it admirable that you would reveal your dyslexia problem to get help, although, you must have a mild case of it if you don’t have a problem reading words correctly. My wife had a severe problem with it”

 ** _(“DYSLEXIA!... what the hell?”)_** Marinette’s eyes got incredibly large. What made Adrien ever think that? Although her stuttering around him might have suggested that… but math?! Sure, she did have a little problem with it since fighting akuma’s made her miss some of the important formulas that helped solve the equations, but gosh, Mr. Agreste wants _HER_ to come to _HIS_ house to be tutored by _HIS SON_! Marinette wasn’t feeling so good now. In fact, her room was spinning. Why was she feeling so hot all of a sudden? “Water, yeah I have water!” Marinette eyed the glass that was on her table. She picked it up, looked at it for a second and then poured it on top of her head.

“Are you still there, Miss Dupain?” Gabriel questioned.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I said, your dyslexia must not be that severe?”

“Oh yeah, I mean no, it’s not that bad, I just have times when I see letters instead of numbers. But Adrien has been nice enough to teach me how to get around it.” **_(What am I even saying!)_**

“Well, it was a pleasure talking with you Miss Dupain, your secret is safe with us, but I have to get to work now.”

“It was a pleasure talking to you too, sir… and thank you.”

The call was disconnected and Gabriel turned to his son.

“Well, it seems your story has checked out, I will allow you to keep tutoring her for a while but this will be the first and last person you tutor. If you’re not busy enough, I will add more activities to keep you busy.”

“Yes father, thank you.” Adrien said as he held in a grin. Marinette actually pulled through for him and she sounded like she actually liked him… a lot apparently. She wanted to date him? Why did he ever think she hated him? Was it the stuttering? The running away from him? Or was she running… to something? He’s definitely going to have to think about that and repay her somehow.

The next day at school, Adrien wasted no time in trying to locate Marinette. She was on his mind all night. He couldn’t go visit her as Chat Noir because what would he say? Thanks for covering for me when my dad called you? Oh, and by the way, that fashion designer you follow and look up to is hawkmoth? that wouldn’t go very well. When he did find her, Alya was rubbing her back… was she consoling her? Oh great, she was crying!

“Um, did something happen?” Adrien questioned.

The look on Alya’s face was slightly unreadable and downright scary.

“You’re one to ask, I think you have some explaining to do, Agreste!”

“Alya, it’s not his fault!”

“What’s not my fault? Can I speak to you alone Mari?”

“Agreste, are you trying to make things worse?”

“Gah! What is going on? Make what worse?!”

“My girl is freaking out because of you!”

“Okaayy?... Why?”

When nobody said anything, Adrien grabbed Marinette's hand and led her away to somewhere private out of the way of Alya glare.

“Marinette, about yesterday…”

“You don’t have to explain, you told your dad something and you wanted me to cover for you; I get that.”

“It's more than that Mari.” Adrien leaned against the wall and took a deep breath and then let it out. “Yes, I needed you to cover for me because my life is on the line and also my future. I didn’t know who else I could trust to play along without slipping up.” Adrien dropped his head. “You did great by the way” he smiled gently.

“Your life is on the line?” Marinette looked very surprised. “Are you in trouble?”

“Yes, I’m afraid and I can’t really tell you why because it’s a dangerous situation.” Adrien’s eyes began to water and they reminded her of a certain feline’s.

“Is there anything you need? I’ll help you, all you have to do is ask.” She put her hand on his shoulder and he closed his eyes. His Lady was wonderful and he was so glad he found her.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Wh- huh?”

“I sorry, Mari… I like you a lot and I know I was out of line thinking you’d be okay with that”

Marinette pulled him down into a kiss that he was more than eager to reciprocate. It wasn’t until they heard a loud boom that they broke apart.

Muttering curses under their breaths for the interruption.

“Looks like there’s an Akuma, I guess we should go and take cover?”

“You go, my driver should be here shortly.”

“Okay, tutoring at your house later?”

“Most definitely” he said with a smile.

The Villain was a royal pain, an actual royal who was 7th in line for the throne and was mad that he may never be king and have subjects do his bidding. He actually held a scepter and a beam shot from it, making people do his will. Hawkmoth gave him a crown and told him that he could stay King if he retrieved the hero’s Miraculouses for him. So, the would-be king made his subjects go after the hero’s in full force. Both ladybug and Chat Noir took a beating but they prevailed when Chat was finally able to get close enough to strike the scepter with his baton. Ladybug swung through the air and caught it. After everything was returned to normal, Ladybug and Chat Noir were so tired they barely fist bumped. They were too busy rubbing sore body parts. The heroes went their separate ways and all Chat could do is DE transform and wait for his driver. He was so upset with his father, so mad at himself for not being able to stop every blow that his lady received, and now he has to go home and pretend like his world was just peachy and his father isn’t his arch enemy.


	3. Tutoring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette goes to the Mansion for the fake tutoring and learns something anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOPS... I definitely need to add one more Chapter to this story . The Story (When Marinette had enough) was a bit easier to write because Chloe isn't as complicated as Gabriel and Adrien.

When Marinette arrived at Adrien’s house for ‘tutoring’, she contemplated that for the sake of her nerves, that going back home would be better. But after Alya spent a whole hour ripping into her that she would go to the school the following day with a bull horn yelling how much of a chicken she was, she put on her ladybug panties and marched her way all the way to the mansion.

She didn’t even have to hit the buzzer because the gates opened up as soon as she lifted her hand.

“Okaayyy…?” Marinette said to herself as she walked up to the huge doors both excited and terrified.

Just when she was about to knock on the door, it opened to reveal a very flustered Adrien Agreste.

“Hi… Adr-“

Adrien wasted no time grabbing her bag and hand and pressed his finger to his lips. He acted all weird looking around corners and down halls, stopping to hide when he heard his father’s voice speaking to Nathalie and then walking quickly with her until he made it to his room, pulled her in and closed the door.

“What’s going on Adrien? Are you hiding from your father or something?”

“Y-yeah… something like that” he said as he locked the door which Marinette quickly noticed.

“I thought… is this a bad time? I thought it was okay for me to be here.”

“NO!” Adrien panicked “I mean… yes, it’s okay that you’re here and no your timing is spot on!”

Adrien cringed after he said that. Why the heck would he slip up and say ‘Spots on’ of all things ladybug.

He chanced a look at her and she only cocked an eye but just as quickly started to look around his massive room.

“You know, the whole upstairs above the bakery could fit in your room”

“I’d much prefer things that are small and cozy to be honest… mansions like this are just a huge waste of space for me and my f- fa- fa…”

“Your father?” Marinette said as she quirked an eye.

“Yeah… him!” Adrien seethed through clenched teeth. He was not going to verbally use that title for Paris’s most hated villain.

“Marinette, I need your help with something. I know I’ve already asked enough from you but…”

“Ask me, I told you I’d help so tell me what you need help with”

He pulled her unexpectedly into a hug and she tensed up but slowly hugged him back. He refused to let her go and she didn’t pull away.

That is, until a knock sounded at his door and they both jumped away from each other.

Adrien motioned for Marinette to go and sit by the computer while he tended to the person on the other side of the door.

When Adrien opened the door, he was surprised to see…

“Son, why is your door locked?” He looked at his son intently and then noticed the girl sitting at the computer desk with a dreamy look on her face.

“Oh… sorry fa- sir, you remember Marinette? You talked to her on the phone yesterday about the tutoring? She just arrived and I thought we could get right to work?”

“That sounds more like questions instead of statements but you didn’t answer my question, son… why was your door locked? Are you trying to keep someone out of your room or are you trying to be intimate with her in secret?”

“Oh my gosh, no! I… I just didn’t want to be disturbed, I thought Marinette might feel bad about herself if the staff or someone came in and saw her in here getting lessons for her… problem! Besides, I’m sure she doesn’t like me like…”

Gabriel raised his hand to stop Adrien from talking.

“Stop right there, you’re not going to tell me that she doesn’t like you like that when we both heard her gush about you! I suppose that’s also the reason she made it all the way up to your room without anyone noticing?”

“I thought she was just being nice when she was talking to you; I didn’t think she really liked me like that and I didn’t think it was such a big deal that I didn’t tell everyone she was here because everyone is also so busy doing other stuff”

“Well, from now on, you must notify Nathalie or myself that Miss Dupain is here! If something happens in this house, shouldn’t I be able to tell her parents of their daughter’s welfare?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think of that” Adrien put his head down, berating himself for not being one step ahead of his arch nemesis. He didn’t want hawkmoth to know Marinette was at the mansion because he didn’t want him to somehow find out that Marinette was ladybug. Why would **_he_** notify her parents to say something happened to her when he sends out villains to hurt them almost every day?!

“Well be mindful of that from here on out!”

“I will… sir; but is it still okay if I lock the door once you know she’s here?”

“That’s fine because you’re 17 now and I know you need your privacy, but I prefer that you just use your do not disturb tag for the door handle. If something happened to you, I’d have to get your body guard to knock the door down”

“Yes sir” Adrien Acknowledged, trying to speed up his arch enemies visit. “Was there something else you came here f-…?” Adrien paused as he glimpsed at the pin on his tie. The pin he always, no matter what suit he wore, always had that exact pin on. Was that the miraculous gem?

“Hmm, oh yes… I have to leave on a business trip but I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon”

“Have a… (((cough))) safe trip” Adrien forced himself to say.

“I will and you need to increase your vitamin C intake before you come down with something” Gabriel said as he turned and left.

Adrien put the Do Not Disturb tag on the door handle and shut the door. He still locked it for his piece of mind.

“Adrien, he really cares about you” Marinette said as she walked over to him.

“He only cares about himself!” Adrien snapped, causing Marinette to flinch.   

“Did I miss something?” Marinette questioned as she watched Adrien pace back and forth in his bedroom. Clearly, he was mulling something over in his mind and he looked like he wanted to tell her but was also fighting with the decision.

When Adrien heard the front door shut, he ran to his window and watched as his father and Nathalie got into the limo and it pulled off. He leaned against the wall and relaxed dramatically.

“He’s finally gone… I wasn’t sure how much more of that I could take!”

“I take that was your cue to finally tell me what’s going on?”

Adrien decided that since he needed help coming up with a plan to steal the Miraculous away from his father, he would have to tell his lady… everything.

That meant that he would lose her, their partnership, their friendship, maybe even his life. But she was more important and she meant the world to him and if she somehow was severely hurt in a battle because she was in the dark than it would all be his fault. How would she feel if she knew he was Chat? She never even wanted to kiss him. She’d probably wouldn’t even want to kiss his civilian side once she knew the truth. He could always kiss her now and _then_ tell her what’s going on.

At least it would be a final farewell of some sort.

“Um… Mari, can I…” Adrien spoke with his head down, not sure if his next move was a good one.

“Can you, what?”

“Oh hell!” Adrien blurted as he grabbed Marinette on both sides of her face and smashed his lips to hers. There was a small squeak that came from her briefly before her arms wrapped around his waist and she reciprocated the kiss. His hands left her face and traveled down her arms and made their way to her back to which he embraced her in a hug while he kissed her. He didn’t want to let her go and he didn’t want the kiss to end.

“Are you going to do that all night or are you going to come up with a plan!”

Marinette pulled away and Adrien wanted to kill his kwami.

“Plagg, you just couldn’t wait a few more minutes?!” Adrien glared

“Meow?” Plagg said as he gave his best kitten eyes.

Adrien face palmed and Marinette stood shell shocked.

“You! Your Chat Noir?!”

“Yes Milady”

“Wait… you know that I’m ladybug?!”

“Yeah?” Adrien said sheepishly

“Oh… so that’s what this is, a stupid game at my expense!” Marinette grabbed her stuff and started walking to the door.

“Marinette, wait! It wasn’t a game, I just found out you were ladybug not too long ago and I need your help!”

“You don’t need my help, CHAT NOIR! You’re a superhero who knows how to handle himself!”

Marinette unlocked the door and turned the handle and Adrien put his arm up to block her from leaving.

“Marinette, you promised! I’m sorry If wanting to kiss you before I told you who I was felt like a mistake but I was sure that since you don’t like Chat, you’d reject to me kissing you if I let the cat out of the bag first.

Marinette crossed her arms and Adrien put his arm down.

“I like Chat, I turned him down because I was in love with you!”

“You love me?”

“I- I don’t know anymore” Marinette looked away

“My Lady… will you love your partner enough to save him from Hawkmoth?”

“I’m not sure what you’re getting at Chaton, Hawkmoth doesn’t know who you are”

“But I know who he is and it’s only a matter of time before he finds out who I am. Can’t you see that’s the reason I’ve been so sleepy at school, on patrol, and why I’ve been on edge? I’m scared and I don’t know what to do. I go out every night to sleep on the Eiffel tower because I’m afraid of sleeping in my room.

“Well, can’t your father do something?”

“Why would I ask him?! He doesn’t care about me or anyone else!”

“Don’t say that! He’s your father!”

“NO… HE’S HAWK MOTH!”


	4. " What did you say?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They come up with a plan

                                                                

“Um… what did you say?” Marinette could only stare at Adrien. She did see his lips move but she was sure she didn’t hear him say what she think he said.

“My lady… I’m sure you heard me!”

“No, Chat… I _really_ and I mean **_really_** , need you to repeat what you said”

“The man… that just left my room… is the villain Hawkmoth… and Nathalie knows and she’s helping him!”

“And you know this for sure?”

“Oh, come on, LB! give me some credit! I heard them talking, threatening, and scolding that poor kwami for not creating strong enough villains to take us down! Adrien yelled as he stormed back into his room and flopped down onto a chair. “If you don’t believe me then ask my kwami, Plagg heard them too.”

“I never said I didn’t believe you, Adrien… it’s just, it’s hard for me to process. I just found out you’re Chat Noir and I’m finding out that the designer I looked up to is…”

“A psychotic monster?” Adrien added

“I think I need to sit down” Marinette groaned

“Now you know how I feel, the only difference is, I couldn’t keep my food down.” Adrien groaned in his hands.

“The kids right, bug… he’s been going crazy trying to figure out how to take down dear ole dad without you getting hurt in the process.”

Marinette stared at the little black cat for a minute and then walked over to Adrien who didn’t look up. He looked like he was in his own personal hell.

Marinette put her arms around him and the dam broke. Adrien lost it in a weeping mess.

“Did you really have to do that! Now it’s going to take me forever to calm my charge down!”

“Plagg, I’m sure Marinette didn’t have anything to do with how Adrien feels right now”

Adrien just leaned into Marinette and held her just as tight as she held him.

“I’m so sorry Kitty, I’m so sorry for how I treated you and for not seeing the pain you were in. I was so focused on your civilian side that I neglected my partner.”

Adrien wiped his eyes and pulled away a bit…

“I don’t know what to do Mari… I’ve thought of everything and I can’t figure out how to get the miraculous from him without getting caught. Oh… did I mention that the miraculous is a pin on his tie? It was right under my nose! He has cameras inside this house, a security system and who knows what else. He would surely take mine and ground me forever and then come after you.”

“Well in that case, we’re just going to have to take it off of him before he gets into the mansion.”

“You have a plan, my lady?”

“I do and if we play it right, he won’t know what happened”

Marinette spent the next three hours with Adrien, going over the plan. Adrien was very nervous for the most part but was soon liking it and adding his own touches. It sounded simple enough but with his luck, he always felt like something could go wrong. They both agreed to the final tidbits and rehearsed how the plan would go. After they had it down, they called it a night because Marinette had one stop to make before she went home.

She needed to see Master Fu.

The next day….

Ladybug and Chat Noir stood on top of a building waiting for Gabriel to arrive home. Adrien gave gorilla the rest of the day off because he didn’t want that hulk of a man around when they set the plan in motion. The only ones they had to deal with was Nathalie and his father.

“I don’t know ladybug… My nerves are getting the best of me”

“Chat… it’s either this or nothing, Master Fu even came through and gave me this box of goodies”

“Goodies?” Chat questioned.

“Yeah, but not the ones you eat, kitty”

Chat looked in the box…

“What the heck! Master Fu had all of those?”

“He said he’s had them for years and thought that they’d be useful sooner or later”

“Let’s just hope that they won’t go to waste”

“You got your bag ready?”

“Just say the word my lady”

Chat and Ladybug hid in the shadows as the limo pulled through the gate. When it came to a stop, Gabriel’s door began to open and Chat released his bag, approximately 1000 metal ball pellets. Gabriel stepped out onto the pellets and did every awkward dance move to try to keep his balance. At that very moment, Ladybug swung down with her box and crashed into Gabriel’s chest sending both parties and the box of seventy-five Tie pins, some that resembled the butterfly miraculous, flying in all directions.

Chat, playing his part, ran over to the limo and slammed the door as Nathalie began to open it.

“Sorry Ma’am… There’s a bit of a mess out here and I wouldn’t want you to get hurt”

Nathalie only nodded and raised the window up.

Ladybug stood up and pretended to be angry.

“Chat! Look at this mess! I told you not to open that bag of metal pellets, You just **_had_** to run your claws through that bag knowing how sharp those claws are! Mr. Agreste could have been seriously hurt”

She turned to Mr. Agreste who gritted his teeth and looked like he wanted to kill the two heroes’.

“I’m so sorry Mr. Agreste, I didn’t mean to crash into you like that, I saw the balls spilling out and I was trying to stop them! then I saw you and I was trying to stop you from falling, but I had that box in my hand with  _seventy-five tie pins_ for the Mayor and now they’re all over the place.”

“No real harm done…” Gabriel stood and straightened his clothes and Tie. “MY TIE PIN! MY TIE PIN IS GONE!” Gabriel yelled as he looked Ladybug and then around on the ground at all the tie pins that were mixed with the metal pellets.

“What does it look like, maybe we can help you look for it?” Ladybug said innocently.

“NO! YOU TWO HAVE DONE ENOUGH, JUST LEAVE AND I’LL LOOK FOR IT MYSELF!”  

Ladybug flinched at Gabriel’s scolding and Chat just kept picking up the metal balls and squeezing them hard so they would pop out of his claws like popcorn. One even hit Gabriel in his glasses.

“But sir, the mayor was expecting the pins to be…”

“I’LL HAVE THEM DELIVERED TO HIM WHEN I FIND MINE! GO RESCUE A CAT OR SOMETHING!”

“Come on kitty… Mr. Agreste doesn’t want our help.”

“Sorry for the inconvenience, Sir.” Chat said as he bowed and vaulted away followed by Ladybug with her yo-yo.

The two snuck into Adrien’s bathroom window and Adrien released his transformation.

“Do you have it Milady?” Adrien chuckled

“Do I ever!” she grinned and held it up to show him and a smiling Nooroo appeared with Plagg.

The heroes fist bumped...

“MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!”

They both hugged and kissed each other and she left to deliver the miraculous and Nooroo to Master Fu and agreed to talk at school the following day. After ladybug swung away in private, Adrien continued to play his part by walking out the front door with his books in his hands.

“Ahh…” Adrien screamed and fell face down. “Father! What’s all this?” Adrien exclaimed as he tried to stand up.

Gabriel rubbed his temples and then pushed his glasses up on his nose from his crouched position.

“They’re the bane of my existence! Hundreds of stupid metal balls!”

“Father…if they’re metal, I suppose a magnet might help pick them up?”

“Good Idea son, Nathalie… have the maid bring one out here”

“Right away sir”

“Are you going somewhere son?”

“Yes father… I have a class group assignment with three of my classmates, do you want me to stay and help clean up these things?”

“No! I mean… Nathalie and I will handle it, just handle your school work and be home before it gets dark”

 Gabriel didn’t even look at Adrien when he spoke, he was picking up tie pins and examining them to see if it was the butterfly miraculous.

“Thank you, father, … I’ll see you later” Adrien grinned to himself.

Gabriel just flicked his wrist while he eyeballed the ground.

“Where is it!” Gabriel growled

The maid brought out a magnet and Gabriel snatched it from her and held it next to the pellets.

They did not attract. _(Of course Adrien knew that)_

He started jumping up and down and stomping in anger and he slipped and fell on his butt.

It took a couple of hours for Nathalie and Gabriel to search on their hands and knees for all seventy-five tie pins. He told the maids to sweep up the pellets while he carried the pins inside to his office and he turned the Television on while he looked at each pin.

Ladybug was holding a press conference…

“… are you saying Paris can relax now?” a reporter asked

“I just want all of Paris to know that the reign of hawkmoth is finally over; Chat Noir and I came up with a plan and have successfully switched the real miraculous with fakes and have returned the Miraculous to it’s rightful owner” She said with a big smile and a wink into the camera.

“Do you know who Hawkmoth is, ladybug?”

“I know who he **_was_** , but I like to think he was just misguided and akumatized by his own quest for power.”

“Are you going to tell us who the man behind the mask was?”

“I haven’t thought that far ahead, you see he has a child and even though thus child doesn’t know their parent was a super villain, telling the police who he is could potentially cause that child to be orphaned. I have to think that now that he's not hawkmoth anymore, things will be different and we should give him a chance to change and if he doesn’t, the police are just a phone call away”

Gabriel looked at the box of pins and threw it across the floor. He knew Ladybug was winking at him and talking about him specifically.

“AHH…LA-DY-BUG!!!!”


End file.
